A prospective study on 100 patients presented with a mesioangular impacted mandibular third molar in close proximity to the inferior alveolar nerve canal (IANC) was done to evaluate the efficacy of tooth sectioning in reducing the incidence of inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) injury during their surgical removal. The patients were divided into two groups : group A, where tooth sectioning was not performed, and group B , where tooth sectioning was performed . Patients were recalled 7 days, 15 days, 30 days , 3 months , and 6 months postoperatively for evaluation of nerve injury and its recovery. A total of 13 patients suffered from nerve damage out of which 10 patients belonged to group A (1050/ or 20%) and 3 patients belonged to group B (350/ or 6%). All patients showed complete recovery from nerve damage within 6 months except 1 patient . It was concluded from this study that tooth sectioning significantly reduces the incidence of nerve damage by 14% . Deviation of the IANC, increased depth of the impacted tooth , intraoperative IO hemorrhage within socket , nerve exposure , and increased duration of procedure were found to be significant risk factors associated with nerve injury.